This calculation was done by comparing the value of the Microsoft stock held by Gates to the value of Ellison's Oracle stock.

But Gates is generally considered to hold about $10 billion in other assets, which were not included here. Ellison doesn't have anything like as much in external holdings.posted by Steven Den Beste at 10:03 PM on April 29, 2000

But can you imagine losing that much money in one day? Tens of billions of dollars just went *poof* into the magic ether of a decreasing scalar multiplier. I'm tempted to send Bill a check of US $0.25 along with a letter that would read:

Dear Bill,

I noted that due to the recent plummet of the price Microsoft stock, you lost tens of billions of dollars in a single day. I know this must be crushing for you. I know how I'd feel if I lost a few thousand, and all else being equal, you must feel pretty down. I know that I can't help you recoup your loss, but perhaps this check can help you on the road to financial stability.

I noticed that part of the gov's idea to break up Microsoft was to require the board members to only hold stock in one of the two resulting companies. That's gonna make figuring out Gates' worth so much harder. :(posted by smackfu at 8:09 AM on April 30, 2000

"Dear Bill:

"I know you've fallen on hard times lately, so I just want you to know that you can feel free to steam the stamp off this letter and glue it to some other letter."posted by dhartung at 10:08 AM on April 30, 2000

I still think that Microsoft is a house of cards. Everyone has read about the negative aspects of the breakup, so I won't get into that. However, I feel strongly that we are about to enter into another chapter of computing history. One that microsoft does not write. Much the same as IBM did not write in the 90's. I think Microsoft will be a powerful entity, as IBM still is, but not like it has been in the last five years.posted by Dean_Paxton at 11:44 AM on April 30, 2000

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